Sociology Research Methods — Quick Reference

What is Research?

  • Definitions vary: a search for knowledge; a systematic search for information on a topic; an art of scientific investigation.
  • Social research uses structured enquiry and acceptable scientific methodology to solve social problems and create generalizable knowledge.
  • Cyclical process of knowing: fact ↔ guess.

Types of Research

  • Descriptive research: precise description/estimation of a social phenomenon (e.g., crime rate, visitors to a place, graduation trends).
  • Exploratory research: rich, in-depth understanding of unknown or little-known topics.
  • Explanatory research: examines relationships between social phenomena (how one thing relates to another).
  • Evaluation research: assesses policies/programs (problem analysis, impact evaluation, process evaluation, cost-benefit analysis).

Research Methodology vs Research Methods

  • Methodology: system of methods used to gather data; a contested field with no single best approach.
  • Methods: procedures, schemes, algorithms; planned, scientific, and value-neutral;
    include theoretical procedures, experiments, numerical schemes, statistical approaches, etc.
  • Purpose: plan and execute data collection and problem solving.

The Scientific Method

  • Sociology uses a series of steps leading to proof:
    1) Identify a research question
    2) Formulate a hypothesis
    3) Collect data to test the hypothesis
    4) Analyze data to see if the hypothesis is supported
    5) Draw conclusions and share results

Insider vs Outsider Debate

  • Positivism (Comte): social sciences can be studied like natural sciences; researchers are objective; outsiders as experts.
  • Standpoint theory (Dorothy Smith, Michel Foucault): insider perspectives matter; insider voice provides subjective insights; outsiders may overlook important context.

Quantitative vs Qualitative Research

  • Quantitative: counts/measurable elements; generates statistics; macro approach (surveys, polls).
  • Qualitative: examines non-countable characteristics; micro approach (ethnography).
  • Many researchers use triangulation or mixed methods.

Qualitative Research Methods

  • Ethnography
  • Institutional ethnography
  • Case study
  • Narratives
  • Content analysis
  • Discourse analysis
  • Genealogy

Ethnography

  • Seeks symbols and categories used by a culture to interpret their world.
  • Methods: participant observation, semi-structured interviews, informants.

Institutional Ethnography

  • Two data sides: (1) ruling interests (texts, rules) and ruling relations (power in organizations); (2) experiential data from informants.

The Case Study Approach

  • Focuses on a single case or a few social entities (e.g., community, family, roles, relationships).
  • Used to identify and describe best practices.

Narratives

  • Stories people tell about themselves and others.
  • Voice reflects social location (gender, race, class, etc.).
  • Provides insider perspectives.

Content Analysis

  • Studies cultural artifacts or events to interpret themes.
  • Data are pre-existing and not created for the study.
  • Examples include media gender analyses.

Discourse Analysis

  • Analyzes discourse as text or talk; can also consider broader fields and societal discourses (e.g., masculinity).

Genealogy

  • Traces origins/history of discourses.
  • Examples: Said, Orientalism.

Quantitative Research - Understanding Statistics

  • Statistics map social behavior using numbers; allows different experts to draw different conclusions from the same data.
  • Many sociological topics are theoretical and hard to quantify.

Measuring the Centre

  • Measures of central tendency: median, mean.
  • Example: data set {6, 8, 10, 11, 14, 16, 18} →
    • Median = 1111
    • Mean = 6+8+10+11+14+16+187=837≈11.9\frac{6+8+10+11+14+16+18}{7} = \frac{83}{7} \approx 11.9

Using Operational Definitions

  • Operational definitions convert abstract concepts (e.g., poverty, middle class) into observable, measurable terms.
  • A variable: a concept with measurable traits that can vary across people, groups, cultures, or time.

Operational Definitions in Action

  • Absolute poverty: below minimum income for basic necessities.
  • Measure: Market Basket Measure (MBM).
  • Relative poverty: poverty relative to median/mean income.
  • Measure: low-income cut-off (LICO).

Research Surveys and Interpreting Poll Results

  • Data generation methods:
    • Poll: quantitative survey on views.
    • Closed-ended questionnaires: fixed answer options.
    • Open-ended questionnaires: respondents answer in their own words.
    • Questionnaires administered to a sample from a larger population.

Variables

  • Independent variable: causes changes in another variable.
  • Dependent variable: affected by the independent variable.
  • Intervening/mediating variable: goes between independent and dependent variables.

Correlation

  • Correlation exists when two variables are associated more often than by chance.
  • Direct (positive) correlation: both variables move together.
  • Inverse (negative) correlation: variables move in opposite directions.

Spurious Reasoning: Correlation is not Causation

  • Correlation describes association; causation links effects to causes.
  • Spurious variable: a third factor influencing both correlates.

Critical Thinking and Statistics

  • Statistics are flawed to some extent; question sources, definitions, and definitions used by data producers.

Ethics and Research

  • Ethics: respect for subjects (privacy, informed consent, voluntary participation).
  • Informed consent: participants understand and accept research conditions.
  • Beneficence and Non-maleficence.

Do It Yourself (Practice)

  • Do a content analysis of a CBC news item before next class.
  • Conduct a quick community survey on food choices and reasons.

Notes

  • Use the content above as quick-reference concepts for exam preparation.